Rodeo time

Well, its rodeo time in Houston. And Mardi Gras time. And we are missing it all watching it snow here. So I thought I'd make my background appropriate.

Family Day

Today was the Family Day holiday. They had the Alberta Legislature open for tours and some events in the underground walkway. At least it was all pretty much indoors.

Valentine's Day

This is what it looked like out our window Valentine's morning. I hear this is called hoar frost, but I'm not sure about that. Don't worry, it was only -5 F this morning. Makes you want to get outside and have some fun!

Ice, Ice, and more Ice

The temperature has been fluctuating above and below freezing for a week now. It doesn't get warm enough to melt everything, but it does melt some, and then it re-freezes, usually on the sidewalk or street. There is ice everywhere and its going to continue through this week. It even rained for a few hours on Friday. Turns out, I'd rather have the -40 temps, at least then ice is not a problem. We never had ice like this last year. Everything froze in October, and then it melted in March without ever freezing the melt water again.

This is the street in front of our house. Notice how the ice shines. Its like trying to walk on a skating rink. Luckily, most of the main streets are completely dry now.

This is what your sidewalk looks like if you don't clean it, and its not easy to clean. This is not ours.

Can you tell how thick the ice is? This is from a clean driveway onto the street. Its at least a 1/2 inch thick on the edges. You can click on the picture to see it bigger.